Curtains will open a month from now, but the buzz has it that
theater showbuyers have been lining up for months to get a piece of the
action. The main attraction is “Maxie The Musicale,” a stage adaptation
of the indie film hit “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.”

Jayvhot Galang as Maxie

The Cinemalaya film explores the coming-of-age story of a
young gay boy and his crush on a twentysomething police officer. That
Maxie, the young hero, comes from a family of petty thieves who are on
the radar of the crusading Victor, adds a Romeo-and-Juliet spin to the
tale.

The musical’s cinematic origins and the film’s huge fan following
have triggered huge interest for the theatrical production. At the same
time, they have also made potential audiences ask: How faithful—or
different—will “Maxie The Musicale” be vis-a-vis its source material?

Darwin Mariano, the musical’s executive producer, quotes
playwright and lyricist Nicholas Pichay for an answer: “It’s the
movie—and it’s not the movie.”
Original choiceFidelity could be guaranteed by the fact that Pichay was the
choice of the original film producers to adapt the movie to the stage.
The playwright also consulted with the the movie’s screenwriter, Michiko
Yamamoto. Directing the production and providing choreography is Dexter
Santos.

“We
will follow the story,” says Mariano. “But we do want to maximize the
fact that it’s now a stage play, and there are a lot of things you can
do in the theater and not on film.”

Among them are 26 musical numbers (so far), consisting of a wide
variety of styles from the boisterous “Tabo-Tabo” that has cops and
criminals dancing (separately) in the showers of a prison station; the
bittersweet “Pelikula” that has Maxie escaping into the fantasy world of
film; and the poignant “Love Letter,” where Maxie finally confesses his
feelings to Victor.

What remains intact is the spirit of the movie. “It’s about the
loss of innocence,” says Mariano. “All of us have that period in our
lives when we see that the world is not perfect, our parents have flaws…
The story captures that very well. The movie is about love, and it’s
not about the gay angle. That Maxie is a gay boy is not an issue, but
the fact that he happens to belong to a family of crooks. If the main
character were a little girl, the movie would have worked as well, I
think.”

At the same time, Mariano concedes, “We are benefiting from a
time when gay-themed material is not as scandalous anymore as it was
years ago.”

Last-minute castingJhayvot Galang, the 14-year-old who plays Maxie, is an openly gay
boy accepted by his family. His was a last-minute casting that just
might spawn a star turn. For months, the producers and artistic team
could not find their main hero, until a friend posted on their Facebook
wall a video of the young Galang auditioning in a noontime show. What
Mariano saw impressed him so much that he tracked the boy’s address to
his home in San Andres, Manila, and personally asked him to audition.

“The minute he sang his first note, we knew we had our Maxie,”
says Mariano. Galang was then sent to do the rounds of theater workshops
to develop his acting and singing skills.

Jojo Riguerra, who plays Victor, is a model and a theater actor
who has done work for Gantimpala Theater and other companies. Aside from
his thespian abilities and attractive features, what sold him to the
artistic team was his six-foot height.

“That was necessary to underline the disparity in the ages of
Victor and Maxie,” says Mariano. Santos, who was in New York when they
were casting for Victor, did the auditions through Skype.

Positive responseRehearsals are in full swing for the Nov. 9 opening, and the
songs (by William Elvin Manzano, JJ Pimpinio and Janine Santos) and
material are being fine-tuned. Mariano says he wants “a fun show that is
movement-heavy… and with humor, power and delicacy.”

He is happy that many are responding positively to news about the
musical. Along with his business associate Carlo Miguel Francia,
Mariano has been an active showbuyer of productions such as Dulaang UP’s
“Orosman and Zafira” and New Voice Company’s “The Vagina Monologues.”
“Maxie The Musicale” is the first show they are producing, and Mariano
hopes it won’t be their last.

“Right now, the economy is good, that’s why theater is growing
and the middle class is watching,” he says. Beyond the businessman in
him, though, is the dramatic arts buff who regularly trooped to the
Cultural Center of the Philippines in his high school and college years
to watch plays produced by Tanghalang Pilipino.

“We have no illusions about being groundbreaking,” Mariano says.
“We don’t want to produce Broadway material because there are already
many who are doing that. We want to showcase Filipino talent—and we want
to produce Filipino material.”